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New "Terminator" Trilogy Planned 303

Ant writes "Dark Horizons reports after much talk and posturing over the future of "The Terminator" franchise/series in recent years, something surprising has happened: The Halcyon Company has acquired the franchise rights to the popular movie series and intends to make a new trilogy that would anchor their movie company..."
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New "Terminator" Trilogy Planned

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  • Great (Score:5, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday May 10, 2007 @08:19AM (#19066039)
    Another dead horse to beat.
    • Re: (Score:2, Interesting)

      Agreed. The Hollywood trend is to secure money by rehashing proven hits of the past. This company could do something unique with the Terminator movies. But then again, they could also do something completely unique and possibly create a new franchise as well.
      • Re: (Score:2, Interesting)

        by AdamThor ( 995520 )
        Hollywood is totally about draining every last cent from anything that can be seen to have any potential. They won't stop. Ever. Until all love for the franchise is dead.

        That being said, the conception of the terminator universe is still fertile, I think. Creative and productive people with a clear vision unfettered by corporate BS could probably do something pretty cool with the property. We've seen, as with LotR, if a company is staking it's existence on a property they can potentially realize that t
        • Re: (Score:2, Interesting)

          by AdamThor ( 995520 )
          Hollywood is totally about draining every last cent from anything that can be seen to have any potential. They won't stop. Ever. Until all love for the franchise is dead.

          Separate thought here. I wonder if it would prove fruitful to build a mental model of cultural properties something like this:

          Audience Adoration = Potential Energy
          Cash = Kinetic Energy

          One can be converted to the other - with losses. But if you want to increase one without decreasing the other you need to add work to the system. Hmmm, may
        • Re:Great (Score:5, Funny)

          by It doesn't come easy ( 695416 ) * on Thursday May 10, 2007 @12:29PM (#19070533) Journal
          Yeah, glad they didn't do that to Star Trek...
        • Re:Great (Score:4, Insightful)

          by Drooling Iguana ( 61479 ) on Thursday May 10, 2007 @02:00PM (#19072275)
          On the plus side, the Terminator franchise wrapped itself up pretty cleanly with T2, so if you don't like the new movies you can just ignore them. It's not like, say, the X-Men movie series, in which the first two movies set left a lot of plot threads unresolved only to be completely shit on with the third movie.
          • Re: (Score:3, Interesting)

            Actually, no, T2 did leave something, who anyone with a sense of logic would have picked on. Effectively a type of Grandfather Paradox. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grandfather_paradox [wikipedia.org]

            In Terminator 1, a Robot was sent back in time, to kill Sarah Connor, preventing the birth of John Connor, leader of the resistance. The resistance sent a human back into time as well, who then impregnated Sarah, to create John Connor. Although the terminator is nearly destroyed, at the end of the film, Judgement day still was
      • Re:Great (Score:4, Insightful)

        by drsquare ( 530038 ) on Thursday May 10, 2007 @09:51AM (#19067555)

        The Hollywood trend is to secure money by rehashing proven hits of the past
        The trend of any business is to make the most of your successful products. After all, you never know when you'll need the money, your next product might bomb and cost you millions.

        I don't see how film franchises are any worse than TV shows that drag on for years and years, or comics that go on for decades. Just because a film uses old characters and an old premise doesn't mean it can't be entertaining.
        • Re:Great (Score:4, Insightful)

          by Coryoth ( 254751 ) on Thursday May 10, 2007 @11:27AM (#19069337) Homepage Journal

          I don't see how film franchises are any worse than TV shows that drag on for years and years, or comics that go on for decades. Just because a film uses old characters and an old premise doesn't mean it can't be entertaining.
          I agree. Some great films have been sequels. On the other hand TV shows that drag on for years and years (hell, many get tired after only a season or two) are indeed just as bad as many sequels. Think of how many TV shows are ruined as they run on: the characters become caricatures of their original selves, and everything has to become "more" and "better" season after season till things are bordering on the truly absurd. The same is often true for movies -- just consider the previews for the new Die Hard movie. Fresh ideas an fresh starts have a lot to offer.
    • Re:Great (Score:5, Funny)

      by bitt3n ( 941736 ) on Thursday May 10, 2007 @10:34AM (#19068311)

      Another dead horse to beat.
      well, you think it's dead, and you pointedly turn your back on it and clasp your love interest in a long and passionate kiss that gives it just enough time to rear up on its hind legs and then start galloping toward you out of the flaming wreckage with its beady red eyes all aglow. Terminator 4: OMG PONIES
    • Re: (Score:3, Interesting)

      Neither creator James Cameron or original star Arnold Schwarzenegger will be involved in the project, which picks up with John Connor in his 30s leading what's left of the human race against the machines.

      Nah, man, the above is what will make this good. There's been what, 2 minutes, shown of this timeframe of the universe? That whole part of the terminator universe is the basis for all of the movies, yet it is largely left to our imagination. They are going to explore that. No dead horse. They're, uhh

    • Re: (Score:3, Funny)

      by SeaFox ( 739806 )

      Another dead horse to beat.

      It's not dead if we go back in time. Also, I have the exact date the foal was conceived right here, I suggest we go back and beat his mother this time before he's born.

  • Start with the story of John Connor and his wife, of course, set in the future.
    • Re:Who needs Arnold? (Score:4, Informative)

      by Sqweegee ( 968985 ) on Thursday May 10, 2007 @08:32AM (#19066225)
      FTA:

      "Neither creator James Cameron or original star Arnold Schwarzenegger will be involved in the project, which picks up with John Connor in his 30s leading what's left of the human race against the machines."
    • Re:Who needs Arnold? (Score:5, Interesting)

      by eli pabst ( 948845 ) on Thursday May 10, 2007 @08:37AM (#19066331)
      I agree. As much as I enjoyed the original Terminator movies, the background plot of John Connor always seemed more interesting to me and I always felt a bit disappointed that it wasn't developed further. The part in T1 when Michael Biehn's character (Reese) falls asleep under the bridge and has a flashback dream was an incredibly cool sequence.
    • by apostrophesemicolon ( 816454 ) on Thursday May 10, 2007 @11:11AM (#19069053) Journal
      [Spoiler alert]
      Episode 4: Total Recall
      After modifying part of skynet, John Connor managed to recall all robots back to HQ where he short-circuited their Sony power unit until they swell and explode. Towards the end the program managed to install itself on a retrotype animal robot.. something called the AIBO

      Episode 5: Kindergarten Cop
      Turns out before the Terminator was sent back in time to help young John, the old John sent another robot called the Eraser to assist toddler John in finding little Miles Bennett Dyson. The SkynetAIBO was also sent back in time and ate all of John's erasers, including the one that smells really nice. SkynetAIBO returns home sick from eating too much erasers.

      Episode 6: The Last Action Hero
      The future world is now finally at peace. Robots are again used as servants and slaves without soul. John refused to lead the nation of United States and settled to govern the state of CA-90210.
      One day he suffers from major headache when a hotel chain heiress Barcelona Hotlin begged him to get her off her impending imprisonment due to excessive velocity transport without authorization clearance. He agreed to pardon her in exchange with sexual favor, which the SkynetAIBO secretly taped and sold all over the Interweb. SkynetAIBO becomes rich and builds a new ROBOTIC EMPIRE. (pitch to the next series of trilogy)

      [/spoiler]
  • by reality-bytes ( 119275 ) on Thursday May 10, 2007 @08:21AM (#19066073) Homepage
    I just had this awful premonition of a new model of Terminator...

    ...It can't be bargained with, can't be reasoned with, and it absolutely will not stop. Ever. Until you are dead...

    "Meesa be back!"

  • by ettlz ( 639203 ) on Thursday May 10, 2007 @08:21AM (#19066077) Journal
    Terminator: The Animated Series.
  • To be fair (Score:5, Funny)

    by clickclickdrone ( 964164 ) on Thursday May 10, 2007 @08:22AM (#19066087)
    He did say 'I'll be back'.
  • by Soiden ( 1029534 ) on Thursday May 10, 2007 @08:23AM (#19066107) Homepage
    Terminator IV: A new John Connor Terminator V: The Robots Strike Back Terminator VI: The Return of the Terminator
    • by Dr. Eggman ( 932300 ) on Thursday May 10, 2007 @09:08AM (#19066835)
      I know this is a joke, but still I'd bet a George Lucas style Terminator would turn out pretty awesome. The francise is coming off of a low note, ie T3, and with nothing but the future war setting left, it would look pretty sweet. All the battle sequences from episode II and III were rather spectacular in my opinion, and a future war Terminator movie done in the same style might be the kind of new direction the francise needs. It's not like there needs to be much character story, everyone's pretty much setup in their relations to the main players, and its not as if a political side story would appear in the middle an extinction war. So, that means, no romance plot, no starchy politics, and a freaking pre-destined on-the-rails plotline (thanks a lot T3.) So what's left to make the movie? SFX, explosions, creative war machines, more explosions, fancy CGI/models, and zetaflops worth of more explosions! A George Lucas style Terminator 4 would rock!
  • Enough (Score:5, Insightful)

    by escay ( 923320 ) on Thursday May 10, 2007 @08:24AM (#19066135) Journal
    Enough with the trilogies already. why can't we have a single good movie and just let that be?
    • Re:Enough (Score:5, Insightful)

      by solios ( 53048 ) on Thursday May 10, 2007 @08:34AM (#19066255) Homepage
      Because trilogies make more money, duh.

      Hollywood only cares about quality product to the extent that they need the occasional quality product in order to keep the cash pouring in.
      • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

        by hoggoth ( 414195 )
        > Hollywood only cares about quality product to the extent that they need the occasional quality product in order to keep the cash pouring in.

        Even further, Hollywood is compelled to continue making sequels until they are so bad they stop making money. It is the only way to insure they have extracted all the money possible from a franchise.

        • by solios ( 53048 )

          Even further, Hollywood is compelled to continue making sequels until they are so bad they stop making money. It is the only way to insure they have extracted all the money possible from a franchise.


          Police Academy is probably the best example of that.

          Though I consider the second and third Matrix movies and the Star Wars prequel trilogy to be pretty good examples as well. :P
        • by dylan_- ( 1661 )

          Even further, Hollywood is compelled to continue making sequels until they are so bad they stop making money.
          Hah! So true! It's like a variation of the Peter Principle. Write up a wikipedia entry on it, edit the Peter Principle page to link to it, and you've just invented the Hoggoth Principle. Congrats! :)
    • Re:Enough (Score:5, Funny)

      by $RANDOMLUSER ( 804576 ) on Thursday May 10, 2007 @08:35AM (#19066289)

      Enough with the trilogies already. why can't we have a single good movie and just let that be?
      Why? What was wrong with Highlander II and Highlander III? Errr, OK, bad example. Matrix II and Matrix III?? Hmmm. Alien3 and Alien Resurection??? OK, I give up.
      • And what about Ghost In The Shell 2:Innocence. That was a real WTF for me.
      • Re:Enough (Score:5, Funny)

        by Zoxed ( 676559 ) on Thursday May 10, 2007 @09:00AM (#19066711) Homepage
        > Why? What was wrong with Highlander II and Highlander III? Errr, OK, bad example. Matrix II and Matrix III?? Hmmm. Alien3 and Alien Resurection??? OK, I give up.

        Well, IMHO, Star Wars IV was the best in that series :-)
      • You hear that? That is the sound of a dead horse being flogged.
      • by Kokuyo ( 549451 )
        Alien 3 okay... but I did like Alien Resurection, darn it. Leave it alone already! ;)
      • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

        by bazorg ( 911295 )
        There should have been only one.
    • Planning far enough ahead of time can be a wise decision for a movie studio. A good example is the Lord of the Rings trilogy. They had a just plain practical reason, they were telling a huge story, and it's hard to get audiences to sit in a seat for 6+ hours straight. But the way it worked, since they knew it would be three films, they shot all three movies basically in one big chunk. A big benefit for the studio this way was that the actors, many of whom saw a big jump in their celebrity status after the f
      • Of course the LOTR people had a hugely popular book to work from so they had some confidence that budgeting 3 movies worth of cash wasn't a complete gamble. You can't say the same for this Terminator proposal. All you have to go on is 1 good movie, one ok movie with good special effects, and one blah movie and no book leading the way.
    • Trilogies (Score:5, Funny)

      by jacobw ( 975909 ) <slashdot DOT org AT yankeefog DOT com> on Thursday May 10, 2007 @09:04AM (#19066775) Homepage
      The advantage of a well-done trilogy is that the first film sets up certain expectations regarding characters and plot. The second film then plays with those expectations in a surprising and suspenseful way. And when the third film wraps everything up, you feel a satisfaction that can only come from having lived with the characters in your imagination for several years.
    • "Enough with the trilogies already. why can't we have a single good movie and just let that be?"

      I would have argued with you except for Pirates 2. Glad I paid full price for half a movie there.
    • Re: (Score:2, Interesting)

      by Opportunist ( 166417 )
      *switching into my "old zen master" costume*

      Movie is like tea. Script is for movie what leaf is for tea. You take idea and work on it for years, and it will make very good script. Same is for tea. You take garden and work on it for years, and you will have get very good leaf. Then you make movie with very good script. And tea with very good leaf.

      And you will see, tea is wonderful, as is movie wonderful. So you say, those leaves made wonderful tea. And I want another wonderful tea. So they will make another
    • by doti ( 966971 )
      The "Terminator" movie is a single great movie.
      I don't consider it a trilogy, the sequels are crappy canned entertainment, which try destroy the magic of the original movie just to make Arnold be a hero, not a villain.
    • I think it was an episode of this week in media [pixelcorps.tv] where someone said something like,

      ~"People think Hollywood is about creativity and artistic expression. It's not - it's actually a very strange investment system. You put some money in, and hopefully, get more money out. An established franchise is a form of hedging."

      However, fear not, movie fans - the tools coming out will allow anyone with talent to produce a film with production values as high as any, and it's getting cheaper all the time. The red [red.com] camera, i [apple.com]
  • What I really want (Score:3, Interesting)

    by clickclickdrone ( 964164 ) on Thursday May 10, 2007 @08:25AM (#19066141)
    Isn't more Terminator but another Alien movie based on the book that should have been Alien 3 i.e. Alien Earth Hive. That would seriously kick ass.
    • "In space, no one can hear you scream"

      "On earth, everyone can..."

      I actually saw that trailer in a movie theater before they replaced the directory and rewrote Alien 3. It was just the big egg on a black screen with the light and smoke coming out of the crack while the voiceover said the taglines. To bad they didn't make *that* movie.
    • Not if it was just endless shooting and acid sprays. Alien 1 did more with a minimum of gore. Hack and slash fests like 300 or the LOTR battle scenes get boring very fast.

      Maybe they could have a explorer or survey team with only a few weapons stumble onto an alien nest world. They'd have to survive until they got rescued. It could even have different species of them (cannibalization?) and other creatures they compete with (they gotta eat something). Alien Ecosystem, the movie.
      • Maybe they could have a explorer or survey team with only a few weapons stumble onto an alien nest world.

        I agree the "endless shooting" stuff gets boring very fast, as you say, but your alternate idea has also been done to death: small group of plucky explorers trapped against overwhelming odds, outnumbered and outgunned, slowly getting picked off one by one while crawling around in the dark, until only the last 1 or 2 makes it back to the escape ship alive. Yawn!

        Someone seriously needs to come up wi

  • by solios ( 53048 ) on Thursday May 10, 2007 @08:30AM (#19066193) Homepage
    .... in POO.

    After repeated viewings, I'm of the opinion that Cameron's what makes the franchise. We didn't need a third movie (what the hell was up with that, anyway?) - much like we didn't need a Highlander 2 (or 3, etc).

    If they're good, that's one thing - but Terminator without Cameron is like, say... The League Of Extraordinary Gentlemen without Allen Moore. Or Watchmen if it were written by Rob Liefeld.

    The only upcoming "sequel" sci-fi I'm looking forward to is Babylon 5 : The Lost Tales. It's more B5, and most importantly, it's still under the control of Straczynski.

    I trust in creators, not franchises.
    • by xtal ( 49134 ) on Thursday May 10, 2007 @09:36AM (#19067283)
      We don't know that much about what skynet did after it took over, how the humans fought, what happened elsewhere in the world.. this is what T3 should have been, but wasn't. There's probably enough there for at least one more movie, but I don't know about three.
    • Re: (Score:3, Funny)

      by sootman ( 158191 )
      And #4 will be from the team that wrote that piece of shit #3. I think I'd rather watch a shot-by-shot remake of the original from Gus Van Sant with Anne Heche as Sarah Conner, Vince Vaughn as Kyle Reese, and William H. Macy as the terminator.
    • by Duhavid ( 677874 )
      I agree with you.

      I watched T3 with the commentary turned on a while ago, and all the
      guy could talk about was "the franchise". It was jarring for me,
      I mean, how about you not worry about "the franchise" and make a
      good movie?
  • Not for nothing, but the man is nearly 60 years old. Can you really plan any more trilogies around the guy's portrayal of an immortal android who never gets old or tired at this point?

    Maybe if the last installment is a crossover with Indiana Jones, where they fight over Jello in a nursing home..
  • Too few original ideas these days. Stil there are plenty of brain-dead 15-years to buy the product as we saw last week for lame three-quel comic book product.
  • by Anonymous Coward on Thursday May 10, 2007 @08:31AM (#19066219)
    All hope for humankind is almost lost. John Connor is on the ropes, he and his band of rebels have almost been completely eliminated by the latest rev of the Terminator line, the T666. However, like a bolt from the heavens, the real saviour of the human race emerges. It is non other than Darl McBride. It turns out that SkyNet has at least 1024 instances of SCO owned IP in it's source code. Darl is able to tie SkyNet up in litigation for years, allowing Connor to regroup ....
  • T4 (Score:3, Funny)

    by niceone ( 992278 ) * on Thursday May 10, 2007 @08:34AM (#19066269) Journal
    T4: The return of the return of the machines.
    T5: The return of the return of the return of the machines.
    T6: The return of the return of the return of the return of the machines.

    I could work in Hollywood.
  • Problem (Score:5, Funny)

    by Bob54321 ( 911744 ) on Thursday May 10, 2007 @08:37AM (#19066321)
    Anchors drag things down, or at least keep them where they are. I think they need a better analogy. Perhaps something to do with cars...
  • by Grashnak ( 1003791 ) on Thursday May 10, 2007 @08:37AM (#19066333)
    I'll be back, and back, and back.
  • Terminator without Arnold is like bread without butter.
    The latest Terminator trilogy might anchor their movie company but the ship can still sink and come to rest beside the anchor.
    I got this great idea which might help revive the trilogy: why not set the last trilogy in time before the first set of movies and ....
  • by gelfling ( 6534 ) on Thursday May 10, 2007 @08:46AM (#19066469) Homepage Journal
    With vaguely homoerotic overtones, like Spiderman. Because Hollywood hasn't turned everything into shit just yet.

    But to be fair, T-3 was pretty close to that. All that they need to do is fill the cast with whatever interchangeable hunks and chicks are in whatever is hot on the WB at that time.

    Oh yeah and did I mention that Sarah Conners has to be black?
  • who's interested in that geriatric?!!?

    a more pertinent question is...(call me a shallow geek if you wish)

    ...will the fit babe terminator from T3 be in it?
  • Spoilers (Score:4, Funny)

    by p4rri11iz3r ( 1084543 ) on Thursday May 10, 2007 @08:48AM (#19066519)
    Terminator IV: A New Hope (more of a "hacker movie" like Swordfish) As human resistance slowly fails, it falls upon hackers to discover a decription code for the robots programming which happens to be: 09 F9 11 02 9D 74 E3 5B D8 41 56 C5 63 56 88 C0 Rebels win the day. Terminator V: Sony sues back (a lawyer movie) The robots sue the rebels of IP infringment. A climactic point is reached when John Connor is on the stand. The defense displays pictures of various robots (1 at a time) and asks the question, "Are these the motherf*ckers?" to which John angrily screams "YES!" Terminator VI: Return of the Sequels ...
  • It would be good if they mined the old Terminator comics put out by Dark Horse. They were set in the future, following the rag-tag human resistance as they tried to survive and fight back, dealing with the creeping paranoia that some of their number are secretly Terminators out to destroy them from within. I'd appreciate bringing the series back to its creepier roots.
  • by bhima ( 46039 ) <Bhima,Pandava&gmail,com> on Thursday May 10, 2007 @09:03AM (#19066767) Journal
    Fuck, this is dreary. Even if it isn't that good can we have some new Sci-Fi?

    Something that isn't a "franchise". Some that is not Star Wars? Or Star Trek

    Or whatever it is Hollywood has already made dozens of movies of?

    Fuck ANY thing without a number at the end!
    • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

      by mblase ( 200735 )
      Even if it isn't that good can we have some new Sci-Fi? Something that isn't a "franchise".

      We have lots. "The Last Mimzy", most recently. "Pan's Labyrinth" was a terrific fantasy work, too, and "Stardust" is on the way in August.

      The problem is that unless it's an action blockbuster, sci-fi and fantasy are tough sells -- partly because they have a special effects budget, but mostly because they have a small audience. My wife has a hard time enjoying any story that isn't rooted in the reality she lives every
  • Personally, I love the first two. They're impressive, action-packed, and scary. I never even bothered to see the third one because it looked like it was going to suck right out of the gate. Turns out I was right.

    The problem with T3 and any future project is that they're doing it for the bucks, not because there's any story worth telling. When it's about the money, the entire project will be permeated with a workman-like attitude. "Hey, don't complain, you're getting paid." "It doesn't have to get good, it j
  • by Migraineman ( 632203 ) on Thursday May 10, 2007 @09:17AM (#19066985)

    Okay, so we've already got -
    - The Terminator
    - Terminator 2: Judgement Day
    - Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines

    Followed by -
    - Terminator 4: Inescapable Truth
    - Terminator 5: ?????
    - Terminator 6: Profit!*


    * The working title for "Terminator 6: Profit!" is "Please, oh please, watch this movie." I can't wait for some asshat to start with the whole "social contract" crap and how we, the good little consumers, have an obligation to go to the theaters and finance whatever garbage they're shoveling this week. Think of the children of the executive producer!
  • by damontal ( 806788 ) on Thursday May 10, 2007 @09:22AM (#19067047)
    sensenet becoming self aware is what sets the whole shebang off in the first place right? that's always been the most interesting aspect of the story to me. why not tell the story from the point of view of the AI?
  • Why T3 Sucked (Score:2, Informative)

    by jollyreaper ( 513215 )
    A public service announcement.

    http://www.goingfaster.com/term2029/t3review.html [goingfaster.com]

    A review of

    T3: Rise of the Machines

    or the alternate title

    "T3: WE REWROTE T2: JUDGMENT DAY AND TRIED TO SLIP IT PAST THE FANS FOR MORE OF THEIR MONEY"

    Déjà vu is a funny feeling you get when you think that you have done or seen something before. Well, when I bought the T3 DVD and watched it for the first time I had a real case of déjà vu. Even though this was the first time that I had ever seen T3:ROTM, I knew t
  • K-Pax II: Invasion

    "More humans... please... the first one was... delicious...."
  • by PhysicsPhil ( 880677 ) on Thursday May 10, 2007 @10:48AM (#19068587)
    We'll have the new release, then a remastered release in which the Terminator doesn't fire first.

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